About three months ago, I started having vaginal and vulval itching. Then, about two months ago, my vulva started to feel painful and look swollen, so I went to the doctor. I was tested for herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea which all came back negative. I also had to do a vaginal swab test and the only thing that came back positive was yeast infection. I was prescribed hydrozole …

I'm honestly hoping to get any bit of advice anyone might have to offer. I go from bouts of sobbing hysterically in my boyfriend's arms to feeling confident that I can beat this.

I haven't been actually diagnosed with vulvodynia but EVERYTHING under the sun has come back negative. I started having sex 4 years ago after starting Lo Loestrin, with my first and current boyfriend …

I am new here and hope to gain some insight into my vulva pain. I suffered for a long time not realizing that there are ways to feel better. I saw the Dr. yesterday and I am starting P/T pelvic and valium suppositories.

Hey all. I'm really struggling to find anyone in real life who can really understand what I'm going through. I've had vestibulodynia for 5 years now and I'm single. Obviously it has completely affected how I approach dating and sex and the fact that I can't really talk to people irl about it has made me feel very lonely. I've found that a lot of the women who have this problem are married and …

Hi everyone - I can't believe I've been dealing with this for almost 10 years and an appointment scheduler at a urogyn office is the one to suggest I look into vulvodynia. Honestly, I don't care, I just thankful I might have an answer.

I have pain in one specific spot right around the urethral opening so it always coincides with urinating (it's not a uti). Does anyone else deal with pain …

I'm so glad I found this forum! I was diagnosed with vulvodynia/vulvar vestibulitis (still not sure about the difference between all the different terms) a couple of months ago and I could do with some advice. This is probably going to be a lot of text because I just want to get everything off my chest, so please bear with me.

This is probably a little unconventional, but I’m a man who is here because his wife has been diagnosed with vulvodynia. The poor girl has been suffering with vulva pain for around 10 years now, and I’ve been by her side through the pain and tears and doctors misunderstandings the whole way, and we’re both exhausted and terrified by the whole experience.

Hey, ladies! I’m new to this support group, I’ve thought about doing something like this for a while so I wanted to try this out! I’ve had vulvodynia for 6 years now, I am self diagnosed. I’m 20 now and the pain started when I had my first encounter with sexual contact when I was 14(I still remained a virgin though it was fingering). For a couple years the pain was so bad I could hardly …

This vulvodynia that I'm currently suffering with is so cruel. I hurt, I burn, I itch. When I first got this several years ago, before the internet, I though I was the only one with this awful disorder. Doctors couldn't figure it out. I felt so alone and devastated. Somehow it disappeared for a few years and now I'm suffering again. This dreaded V misery is back and I feel like I will be with …

Have any of you ladies been tested for Intestinal permeability? I am seeing a Natural Therapist and I recently had a test for it and it came back positive that I have "leaky gut". She feels like it's a really strong lead and feels like it may be connected with my Vestibulodynia. She's now having me tested for gut "candida overgrowth"...

Has anyone found they had Intestinal permeability and fixed it with positive results to their condition?

Not that I don't believe in natural medicine, because I do, but I'm pretty sure almost all naturopathic tests will find that everyone has some form of "leaky gut", "candida overgrowth" (we need yeast in our bodies to survive ), or "adrenal fatigue".

I spent thousands of dollars on tests from a Functional Medicine Practitioner (blood, stool, & urine tests), and if one test wasn't positive for something, one of the other two tests magically confirmed I was positive for it (leaky gut, candida, adrenal fatigue, etc.). So I spent thousands of more dollars on many months of supplements to fix my gut, and it did absolutely nothing other than waste money and time.

I'm so sorry to sound so negative because I absolutely believe that the foods we consume play a huge role in health, but when most people come back from Naturopaths with the same generic "conditions", I call BS.

If you do truly have digestive issues, improving your diet and moving towards as plant based as possible will do far more for your health than any crud thrown in a supplement. Make sure to Google all the ingredients in the supplements they push at you! Some have horrible side effects. For example, many adrenal fatigue supplements contain adrenal extracts (glands of cows or pigs gathered from slaughterhouses), which have so many negative side effects (do a quick google search for the dangers of adrenal extracts - you will be surprised at the results). And most candida supplements have strong antibacterial properties, and I don't care what they say, they cannot distinguish between good and bad bacteria in the gut! So you could be making your problem worse.

Please make sure to do thorough research before spending tons of money on supplements. Good luck!!

I had just reread my reply and it sounded super negative, and I want to apologize for that. I just don't want what happened to me to happen to someone else.

It wasn't even the wasted money that bothered me so much. It was that my practitioner was so confident that leaky gut and candida was my issue, and she raised my hopes of relief higher than any of the other doctors I had seen...then I was crushed more in the end when none of it worked.

I am currently being treated by a Chinese Medicine dermatologist, and the herbs she has me use in a sitz bath have really pushed me closer and closer to finally being healed (not there yet though). So I do support alternative medicine

I really hope leaky gut is causing your issues and you are able to find lasting relief! If you want to chat about the types of tests or my results from the Functional Medicine Practitioner, let me know. I'm an open book

AAhhhh sigh... Thank you Emalita. I really appreciate you letting me know your experience. It really sounds exactly how I'm feeling. I was the most optimistic about this direction because it seemed to make sense that the issue had to start from within. I seem to have already spent a small fortune on the Natural Therapist already... so I will just need to take all this with a grain of salt and now think of other things to try too. It's actually really good that I've read your post. Thanks so much for responding, and I'm so glad I asked. I really had all my hopes bundled up in this "leaky gut" answer.

I've had Vestibulodynia for about 12 years now and tried many things but new ideas do surface. Your direction sounds interesting... I have an appointment with a dermatologist in a month (not Chinese Medicine though). Will search for a Chinese Medicine dermatologist!